The present invention provides a system and method for automated triage; and more specifically, an automated system and method that utilizes both subjective and objective criteria in the prioritization algorithm.
Automated decision-making systems have the potential simultaneously to improve the quality of patient care and reduce medical costs. Medical services, including radiology, routinely rely on physicians and other highly trained personnel to make routine and repetitive decisions. One such situation is a prioritization, or triage, of waiting patients or cases. When done manually, this triage process is inherently time consuming. This reduces the amount of medical staff available to provide patient care.
Conventionally, radiologists in a central “reading room” interpret exams received in a first-in first-served basis. Furthermore, for various reasons, the radiologists are often interrupted with requests for expedited examination of certain cases and/or requests for status on cases that are being examined or have yet to be examined. This, of course, drastically reduces the efficiency of the examination process and increases the stress level of the radiologists and all others involved in the process.
Additionally, a manual triage process can be inherently inconsistent, varying from decision-maker to decision-maker. This can put patients with urgent needs at risk and waiting longer than is medically appropriate or necessary. However, there is no well-established model for developing an effective automated decision-making system for assisting radiological triage based on both medical and operational factors. Moreover, there is no generally accepted methodology for measuring the operational and perceptual effects produced by such system. Without effective and efficient technology-enabled decision-making systems, radiological triage (and medical triage in general) will remain burdensome, unreliable, and costly.